Manufacturing materials in the microgravity environment, and absence of dust particles, is beneficial for certain pharmaceuticals, fiber optics, and computer chips.

The first proposed reentry date was denied on September 6, 2023, due to issues between the FAA regulatory requirements and the landing site.

The W-Series capsules’ heatshields are made of C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), a thermal protection material produced by NASA Ames Research Center.

The material was originally developed at Ames, and the reentry of W-1 marked the first time a NASA-manufactured C-PICA heat shield ever returned from space.

[16][17]   Varda demonstrated the pharmaceutical processing equipment inside W-1 by growing crystals of Form III of the antiretroviral drug ritonavir.

[18] Varda's W-2 capsule launched in January, 2025, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-12 rideshare mission with payloads from Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA.